Popular pundit Rachel Maddow will host a new talk show on MSNBC, catapulting the Air America host and progressive favorite into a prime time field largely dominated by male and conservative anchors.
MSNBC is set to officially announce the decision on Wednesday, but the channel’s biggest star, Keith Olbermann, broke the news to supporters through a "fully authorized leak" on his diary at DailyKos on Tuesday evening. The jocular host, a longtime Maddow booster, even wrote up a few answers to "key questions" for his blog audience:
No, the format isn’t set, though there have been a lot of discussions out there and they have all centered on how to best allow her to both give her laser-quality insights while soliciting the opinions of others.
Yes, I had something to do with it.
Yes, you had something to do with it.
Yes, I did like the description of her in The Nation: "Everything about her radiates competence and a deft, bright careerism."
The show is set to begin on September 8, batting clean-up for Olbermann.
